Suffering
by Time Whoadie
Summary: Sakura Kinomoto, professional assassin for her elven tribe. She's known for her powerful dark magic, combat skills, and her dangerous beauty that seems to capture many eyes. One day she wakes up and finds something out of the normal in her elven tribe..
1. Default Chapter

Whoadie: Let's see...this is my first attempt at publishing a fic that's NOT humor/humor, hopefully, I won't butcher it. *takes a deep breath* go easy on me...  
  
Summary: Sakura is no ordinary girl, she's an elf. A beautiful, 17 year old elf who lives with her father and brother in their village. Only this isn't just an ordinary village, it's located high up on the branches of tall ancient oak trees in a forest. No one can see their village because it's layered with illusion spells. So any person who passed bya nd happened to look up would only see tree tops. There are many kinds of tribes for elves, but hers is different and feared. Her tribe is nothing but assassins, trained from birth to kill. (A/N: For any ppl who know all about elves, please don't take my information in here seriously! except for the language, I know alot of that ^_^. As for everything else, remember it's a fic I'm having fun with it! So enjoy!)  
  
Suffering  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
// will be her thinking  
Chapter 1  
  
In a Dream. ~Sakura's POV~  
  
//Where am I? It's so dark...so cold...// I looked around trying to see beyond the eternal darkness, but failed miserably. "Grrr! What the hell is going on!!" I stamped my foot angrily against ice cold floor, only to hear cracking beneath my feet. I closed my eyes, trying to slow down my breath. //Not good, NOT GOOD!!// I could feel a drop of sweat roll down my cheek and onto the cracking floor. The sound of the drop making contact with the ground echoed in my ears.   
  
I tried to scream out for help but was instantly silenced by the icy waters beneath what I figured was ice. I opened my eyes only to see the hole I fell through not there. //How can that be!?! If there's no hole, how will I breathe?!?!// You'd think having years of harsh training of being an assassin would keep your mind calm. Natural instincts kicked in, I started to panic.   
  
Spells, strength, and my sanity left me...I started to act like a mortal, panicking about dying. //How pathetic can I get?// I thrashed about trying to reach the surface of the ice. My hands pressed against it searching for a gap to get air, or better yet an escape. My lungs burned for air, my muscles ached from swimming, and my mind was clouding over. I started to fall down into the dark waters wanting to just go to sleep.   
  
I could feel my pink aura fading as I started to fall asleep. I kept my eyes open hoping to get one last glance at the world I'd never see again. Suddenly bright green light blurred my vision. I squinted through the aura, only to see a shadowy figure of a young man swimming towards me. Even though I would NEVER ask for anyone's help due to pride, I could feel my hand reach out to him. His hand was firm as it grabbed hold of mine, pulling me towards the surface of the ice. He broke through it, pulling me up into the light that wasn't there before.  
  
The light was blinding to my eyes so I had to clench them shut, it was too painful to try and see anything. My ears twitched hearing the man say something but I couldn't tell what he had said. The place around me started to fade as I entered reality again.   
  
I bolted up from my laying position on my soft bed. "That was insane."  
  
~~~Sunrise~~~End of P.O.V~~~  
  
Sakura ran a hand through her honey brown hair trying to make out her dream, but it seemed to have vanished. She sighed as she stood up to get ready for another day of harsh training.   
  
She slipped on a black leather body suit that was like a second skin, for better movement of course. She easily zipped it up in the front, checking herself in the mirror. She tied her shoulder length hair up in a high pony tail. Giving on last glance at the mirror she backed away into the shadows of her room.  
  
The sun was just rising above the treetops when Sakura walked out of her rather large tree hut. She stood on the deck doing her usual morning stretches when she noticed something peculiar about the silence of the forest. First of all, it was silent. Forests are NEVER supposed to be a silent, common sense.   
  
She didn't say anything incase it was something serious causing the silence, she wouldn't want to give her location away.   
  
A shadow moving behind her caught her eye. "If I were you I'd back away right now..." She didn't hear a reply. She smirked before doing a no hand cartwheel forward so that she was now facing the stranger a few feet back. While she was in the air she had slipped her hand into her boot, taking out a two silver daggers. When she landed she had them up in a attacking position.   
  
"What, no attack?" She frowned hoping they would have attacked her while she was in the air. She was wide open, something that she had to risk in order to give herself space. If they had attacked her while she was in the air, it would have made the game a little bit more interesting. Since this was already a but one-sided, their attack would have proved they would last a bit longer than she would have estimated.  
  
"Why would I attack my own?" Sakura raised an eyebrow at him. "Come into the light." Her mysterious figure walked into the light revealing his elven heritage. "Nicholas..." Nicholas nodded. He had long white hair that fell around loosely on his shoulders, his eyes were a deep shade of blue that seemed to go forever. "Surprised?" Nicholas was Sakura's long rival since birth. One always trying to outdo the other by being the best assassin.   
  
"What do you want..." Sakura asked coldly. "I don't feel like beating your sorry ass again in combat, I have more important things to do. " With that she tried to push by him.  
  
Nicholas moved infront of Sakura, blocking her way out. "What's your hurry?" He gave a sly smirk.  
  
"Do you have ANY SORT OF clue?" She bit back icily. "Are you THAT dense?" She motioned around them. "It's too damn quiet, somethings wrong. Master Yue is usually holding our classes right about now, but do you see him? NO!" She tried again to walk by him.  
  
Once again he blocked her path. "Don't insult me Ying Fa..." He didn't get to finish because Sakura had slapped him.   
  
"Are you insane?!?!" She spoke in a whisper, but harshly so she got her point across. "That's my codename, if the enemies find out I'll be hunted down!!"   
  
Nicholas rolled his eyes at her as he rubbed his now pink cheek. "First of all, yes of course I'm insane, you kindof have to be in order to complete the suicidal missions we have to pull off. Second, so what? Get a different codename, change it, or something it's not that big of a deal. Third, like they'd be able to hunt you down, your damn near impossible to catch. Fourth, I like calling you that, it suits you perfectly." He gave a heart-warming smile that would melt any girl's heart, it would have worked on Sakura if she HAD a heart and didn't know him since they were young.  
  
"Ha ha...but I don't have any time to get a different name, and like you said, it suits me..." This time she stepped back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find my father." She started to run at him, making his eyes widen. She did a hand spring, pushing herself off the ground right infront of him so that she flew over his head. She flew up higher than what humans call normal, and landed in a crouching position. She turned her head slightly giving Nicholas a playful wink then sped off across the suspended wooden bridge. To her father's study.  
  
Nicholas could only watch with desire. A gentle wind blew, making some white strands of hair fall infront of his eyes. "One day Ying Fa..." He sighed as he backed away into the shadows to finish what he started.  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Whoadie: well that was only a taste of what happens, I just wanted to see if I could do it. If you like it, review and I'll continue the next chapter! Don't worry I'll make it longer, remember this was just a taste! ^_^ 


	2. A mysterious immortal

Whoadie: So you really like it? Hmm maybe I didn't kill it TOO bad...*takes back author license* I'm not a failure anymore!  
  
Dark Sorceress (authoress): well until you fail again which means this chapter...  
  
Whoadie: :P   
  
---Author's comments---  
^_^;;; well um I have soo many ideas flowing into my head and all I can say is, HOW WILL I PUT THEM ALL DOWN!!! Some how I'll make it all fit under the plot I already set. *rubs back of head* oy... Oh yea and when I start writing the elven language I'll put the translation in one of these dealies [] ^_^ okie dokie? good! On with the fic!  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
'..' will be thinking  
  
"..." will be talking  
  
[..] will be the english translation of the elven language  
  
Rated: PG-13  
  
Chapter 2  
  
---Tribe---  
"Quella tuulo' elea!" [spell: "invisibility"] Slowly, her form started to disappear as she ran. 'Now I can call out'   
"Father!!! Touya!!!" Her feet were flying, her vision just as sharp even though her speed would have made the place appear blurry.   
Sure there's layers of magic to hide her village's location, but everyone was gone. She felt no protection, that she usually felt from the ancient spell. The shield had disappeared.  
"Of course, the day I FINALLY get a chance to actually kill Nicholas, something bazaar like this has to happen..." she muttered to herself as she kept looking.  
That day was supposed to be the last day of training for the assassins-to-be. In order for them to become an Sereg'wethrin [Profession: Assassin] A tournament was to be held to find out the best of the best. Which means, only a few would come out on top. The others...well...wouldn't have it so good...  
There would have been no actual "winner," this type of tournament was different. You were paired off with a partner you master thought was a fair match, according to your skill and progress over the past years of training. Then the fight would begin, involving: magic, fighting skills, and of course natural instincts. Sometimes these tournaments would take a couple of days to end.   
Hunting was always involved since they were left alone in the forest with each other. Only on of the two would come back...alive... Sometimes the two elves would be hesitant in killing each, developing friendships over the years.   
Which would soon die down to nothing but competitive agressiveness over the couple of days. It was a horrible way to find out who was to pass to the next level, but it had to be done. You can't have weaklings in this tribe.  
----In the forest----  
  
"Are you sure you want to go through with this sir?" A human soldier asked their commanding officer.  
A cloaked figure turned to the mortal being. Humans disgusted him more than any other creatures. Their simple ways of thinking, morals, emotions, basically anything you could think of. They destroyed each other for stupid reasons like: women, money, land, greed, or just for the hell of it. Their sick, twisted minds that produced such cruel entertainment from their fellow kindred was more than enough to make anyone vomit. (A/N: for example, like way back when, when they hanged innocent poor ppl for stupid crimes like "taxes" and laughed as they squirmed. Yea that's what I'm talking about here..or something similar to it.)  
"Of course I'm sure! Never question me again!" He slapped the soldier across the face with the back of his hand. A small smirk twisted on his lips as he watched the soldier fall to ground, clutching his now pink, swollen cheek.  
"F-f-f-f-forgive me, my lord..." He rose to his feet but kept his head bent low. He retreated without ever looking up.  
The cloaked man turned his glance to the rest of his army of mortals, which would be no more than a 30 armed men. Villages supplied such low quality humans for soldiers these days.   
"Let that be a lesson to all of you, mortals. I am your superior, remember that!!" He turned on his heel letting his cloak billow behind him as he disappeared into his tent.  
The soldiers stood at attention till they could no longer see his cloak. They let out a sigh of relief when he left.  
"What's wrong with you?" A soldier, that went by the name Roiben, asked his fellow soldier who was slapped. "Have you no sense at all? You KNOW he's immortal..." He didn't wait for an answer, he just shook his head letting out a frustrated sigh.   
"His idea on burning this whole forest is insane, not to mention strange. He has all the elves captured, why burn the forest?"   
A man that was leaning against a tree, gently tapping the flat side of his sword against his leg. He had his eyes closed through the scene, it wasn't anything new to him. His voice was calm, with a mixture of a little annoyance in it. "That's because he's insane...the elves draw their energy from this forest because they were born here, if the forest were to be burned they would be powerless..."   
"But that doesn't make sense, he's from the same forest!" He paused, thinking about what he'd just said. "He'd be powerless as well..."  
"Wrong..." The man opened his eyes, revealing auburn colored eyes that matched the color of his hair. "He has something to keep his magic going..."  
Roiben raised an eyebrow, "And just how would YOU know that?" He turned to his friend, recieving a shrug from him.  
"Call it a 6th sense...but there's more that he wants from this place. I don't think the thing he wants, knows what's going on. He's going force them to leave..." His eyes were cold, the usual kind glint in them were gone.   
The two other soldiers were quiet, wondering in their own little world what this "something" was.   
A boy that looked no more than 13 years old ran up to Auburn man. His green tunic was smudged with dirt, showing his place in this army. A mere servant boy.  
"Captain Li, we are ready to start the burning." He motioned to the rest of the army, then pointed to the tent. "My lord has just given the order."  
"Right then..." Li stood up putting the sword back in it's sheath. "Assemble the men, have them light their arrows" He turned his attention to the two men he was talking to. "Get in line men, you'll see just what I was talking about..."  
The two quickly got to their feet, running over to the other soldiers, who were placing their arrows on the string of their bows. The servant boy was running around with a torch, lighting each of the arrows. The arrows had a fist sized bag, tied around the head of the arrow. It was filled with flammable materials so that it would stay alight.  
Li stood at the front of the line. "Ready. FIRE!" The twang of the bow strings echoed in the silent forest as the arrows were released. The whistling sounds of the arrows speeding off to unknown destinations, disappeared with a thud as it made contact with the ancient trees.  
The trees imediately caught fire, the dead bark on the trees served as a great start of the future wild fire that would consume the whole ancient forest.   
~~~The Village~~~  
Sakura had LONG stopped her searching and was gathering her weapons. She had a long elegant blade that fit lightly at her side. The handly gleamed with elven characters it read, "The Goddess Blade, all who wield it are gifted with the light of heaven" If looked at closer you could see that it continued in smaller characters, "For they are condemned for eternity in the depths of hell"  
Sakura glanced at the blade, it was her prized possession. It almost took her life trying to get this legendary blade. She knew what the markings said, she didn't care it wasn't like she would be dying anytime soon. "Condemned for eternity in hell..." She repeated those words to herself as she placed daggers along her belt and one in both of her boots.  
She examined the point on the arrows before placing them in the quiver. She slung her bow over her shoulder so it was in easy reaching distance. She put other sorts of supplies in a bag, slinging it over her arms so that she carried it like a back pack. She looked down at her sword again. Unaware of the danger that approached.  
"So mote it be..."  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whoadie: well that was longer! ^_^ I hope it makes sense since I'm sick and like doped up on a variety of medicines...*coughs* Phew! I'm starting to see spots again...Well Review please! 


	3. Fire can burn deeper than you think

Whoadie: Hey my chittlins! I've been a lil busy on my Spring Break, I'm visiting my dad in Texas...OY! I wish I was back in Ohio where your really apprecieated. I just gave away my locations....hope you guys don't stalk me *suspicious eyes* AH HA! LOOP HOLE!! I didn't tell you WHERE!  
  
Dark Sorceress: Well aren't you clever? *rolls eyes*  
  
Whoadie: OH give me a break! *is still recovering from being sick* I have an excuse  
  
Dark Sorceress: No you don't your ALWAYS this *whoadie covers her mouth*  
  
Whoadie: ON WITH THE FIC!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I didn't do this for my other chapters b/c I uh...forgot...^_^;;; well I don't own any of the CCS crew, but I do own Nicholas, Roiben, and the "other" ppl category who will show up n later chapters!  
  
Nicholas: I belong to NOBODY! *shakes fist* NOBODY!!!  
  
Whoadie: *smacks him* NOBODY cares!!  
  
Summary: Well that would ruin the whole point to reading the chapter, now wouldn't it? ^_^ well your going to have to suffer! Read on kids! ^________^ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Suffering.  
  
// would be the character speaking to himself  
Chapter 3  
Rated: PG-13  
***Nicholas***  
  
He watched from his tent as the forest imediately caught on fire. "Excellent, everything is going as planned, but where are you Ying Fa?" He scanned the area cursing himself, seeing the flaw in his plan. "Curse those idiots!!"  
Captain Li watched the eyrie smoke that began to rise from the forest, it was green instead of black. Years of ancient magic flowing up into the atmosphere to be returned to the land in rural areas. "What a shame...this was one of the last forests with such powerful magic," he threw down the piece of grass he had been chewing, "All wasted for a power greedy elf!"  
His troops flinched as Captain Li ground in the blade of grass with the heel of his boot. "Do you think our lord heard that?" Roiben answered. "I don't think Syaroan would care, their almost evenly matched...well combat in strength that is, our lord has the slight upper advantage with his magic and immortality but besides that, their equally matched."  
The soldier ignored the informal title Roiben had used on their captain, "Then why doesn't he retaliate, he knows all of this is so very wrong..." The soldier trailed off as he caught Li's icy glare in his direction. "Heh, did I forget his strong sense of hearing? Yea that's another skill he's got matched with our Lord." Roiben laughed, not caring that his captain was heading their way.  
~~~SAKURA~~~  
  
She walked outside her home, looking back at it longingly. She had a feeling she would never see it again. "Now to just go and pick up...the book..." (Whoadie: we all know what that is! ^_^ Don't worry all questions will later be revealed in other chapters, so just bare with me here) She wiggled her nose catching the scent of burning magic. "shit...that's not good..."  
Her elven eyes searched the sky trying to find the smoke, that would lead her to the source of the burning. Her green orbs widened seeing the green smoke. "What the hell is going on here?" She gripped the hand rail tightly, her knuckles turned a snowy white from the death grip. "I can't go yet..." She turned her head back at the study, cursing herself for not getting the book earlier when she went to go see her father.  
She looked at the smoke one last time, estimating she had about 20 minutes before it hit her unprotected village. "May the gods keep me from tripping.." she couldn't afford any mistakes, or the book wouldn't be able to make it out. She took off towards the study, ignoring the sound of danger approaching. "One shot at this..."  
She looked back at the rapid wildfire making it's way to her. She wouldn't have time to run across all the bridges with the ground the wildfire was covering in mere seconds. "I should have calculated the forest's dryness into the equation..." That left her with only a few minutes, then her and the book would be engulfed in heated flames.  
She smiled as a thought hit her, she didn't have to actual be holding the cards that were contained in the book she could just summon it's power from where she was. "Perfect..." She closed her eyes, reaching out with her aura to the card she wanted. "Dash, release your power confined!" She waited but nothing happened. "WHAT!"  
She tried again, sweat rolled down her face from the heat of the fire. "That means....it's gone...." She slapped herself mentally for being so slow. She slowly began to piece together bits of the puzzle. The picture was still fuzzy but she just jumped right to the conclusion. "So...looks like I'll be getting that fight I wanted..." She glared at the approaching fire, "I'll be seeing you soon, you bastard!" The fire engulfed her body, but not a sound of pain nor scream could be heard.  
***Nicholas***  
"You fools!!" He threw open the flaps of his tent harshly as he stomped out. "How are we going to draw out our prey now??" Blue eyes probed their very souls as he spoke, "You set fire to the whole front of the forest, you were supposed to surround the forest so the fire would push our prey OUT THE FRONT!!" His elegant features turned twisted with anger, he regained his posture by taking in deep breaths.  
"Well good job, you managed to let our prey escape..." He ran a hand through his white locks trying to keep what little patience he had left with these pathetic beings. He closed his eyes trying to debate with himself whether they were really worth keeping around. He turned around to continue to argue with himself without being distracted by the stupid looks the mortals were giving him. //I NEED them, they maybe be pawns but even pawns in chess have some value// He clenched his fists but released them just as quickly as he clenched them. He smirked to himself, a dark expression plaguing his face. //I don't need ALL of them for my plan to work, it would teach the others a lesson too. Maybe they might even gan a brain from this..//  
He turned around with a blank expression on his face. "Since this prey of mine can hold a grudge for the longest time, I know she'll come back to us..." He watched his men give out a sigh of relief. "But...that doesn't change the fact that you didn't follow my orders!" He held his palm out to the man he had slapped earlier. "Koron en' Naur!" [Spell: "Fireball"] ((Whoadie: hey wow these ppl REALLY like fire, but then again who doesn't?))  
The man gave out a cry of surprise when the red fireball made contact with his flesh. His body burst into flames then disappeared, leaving a pile of ash. The soldiers around the man had dived out of the way and were now shaking. Who wouldn't be? They all looked at their captain who was staring at the pile of ash with regret. "Now then...I have to release SOME anger of mine so your free to run around like the pathetic, worthless cowards you are!" He was tossing another fireball in his right hand as if it were a regular toy, like a baseball. The men took off in all directions, some even ran into the burning forest without looking where they were going.  
The scene was chaotic but one stood his ground. ((Whoadie: ^_^ guess who!)) He watched his men crumble to the ground, smouldering. He had already drawn his sword from when the first victum was burned, he made his way towards Nicholas.  
He rose his sword, ready to bring his sword down on Nicholas's head. It wouldn't kill him, being what he is, but it would slow him down long enough for Syaoran to get his men out of there. He had stood back long enough, taking orders from Nicholas, but only because he had no choice. He stole a glance at his arm, his armor covered the tattoo on his shoulder. It wasn't an ordinary tattoo, it was a mark symbolizing his rank and who he belonged too. He was made a servant in Nicholas's army.  
***FLASHBACK***  
  
"What's going on? Where's mother?" A more gentle Syaoran held his dying sister in his arms. Tears fell from his auburn eyes, onto his pale sister's cheek.  
  
Fuutie smiled weakly, "She's dead..." she coughed up blood, a drop landed on Syaoran's tear stained cheek. She held her hand up to the arrow hole in her chest. Syaoran had pulled it out awhile ago, now he was just trying to keep his sister with him.  
  
Syaoran shook his head, "NO!!! That can't be true, your just tired from losing so much blood, please stay with me...you have to help me find Fanran, Shiefa, and Feimei!!"  
  
Fuutie continued to smile up at him, shaking her head. "Stay kind and gentle Syaoran, promise me..." She took his hand as a reassuring gesture. "Please...the world needs all the good it can get, if your heart turns cold then there's no hope for the rest of us...everything will be just as cold.."  
  
Syaoran didn't know how to react with his sister's words, "Shhh you need rest, we still need to find survivors.." He knew in his heart that his family was dead, everyone in their little village was dead. He rocked back and forth while holding Fuutie like a lost child. "Please..please...don't go..."  
  
Fuutie wiped away a tear from his eyes, her hand fell to the ground with a thump. Her head fell to the side signifying that she was no longer with him.  
  
Syaoran saw this, pain struck through his heart like the arrow that pierced through his sisters. He felt dead all over, an empty shell. He was so grief stricken that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him, or sense the spell that was put on him he just fell to the ground paralyzed. He did hear the icy voice under the black hood, "I sense strong magic in your blood, you might be of use to me."  
  
The figure turned to one of his guards, "Mark him..." The guard approached with a flame, ink, and a needle.  
  
Syaoran didn't scream out when they gave him the tattoo, he couldn't feel it. Nicholas placed a hand on the bleeding tattoo, his elven characters appeared under the it. "Now your mine." He waved a hand releasing the paralyzing spell. " 'Kshonna wanya" [Spell: "Dispel"] Syaoran felt the heated pain in his shoulder.  
  
He curled up into a ball holding his arm, now he was to serve the enemy that killed everyone he loved. "Ironic isn't it? Your to join the very army that destroyed your life..." Nicholas let out a cold laugh before leaving.  
  
The soldiers swooped in, picking Syaoran up. They threw him in the back of a wagon with many other marked men.  
***END OF FLASHBACK***  
  
Syaoran did what he could to survive, swearing one day when he got the chance he'd kill Nicholas. Now he had his chance. He was about to slice down to cut Nicholas into two halves when something flew out of the forest fire. Sound came back to him, he had ignored it this whole time as he recalled his past.  
  
The chaos had ceased because Nicholas had sensed something approaching. He waited, watching the forest intensly, for the thing to emerge. The soldiers had taken that time to flee, their markings would soon draw them back to Nicholas in due time.  
  
Syaoran narrowed his eyes at the black lump on the ground. //What could it be?// His eyes widened seeing the thing rise. //How could it have survived a wildfire like that? Such high temperatures would have surely roasted the thing//  
  
Nicholas called out, "You there!"  
  
The figure raised it's head, a flash of green caught Syaoran's eyes. //It's a woman!//  
  
"Ah Ying Fa...I was wondering when you would be joining us..."  
  
The soldiers were drawn back against their will. They looked up at the woman who just joined them. "She's burning!!"  
  
Sakura was indeed burning, but the fire didn't seem to harm her. In fact, the fire was blue! It surrounded her very body, keeping her at a cool temperature. The fire slowly went out as she made her way towards Nicholas.  
  
"Clever, you used the cold, blue fire to repel the heat from the fire we created..."  
  
Sakura glared at Nicholas, "It's not clever, it's common sense.." She crouched down so that she went to one knee. In that few seconds, she took out a dagger from each boot so that she had one in each hand. She sprung up spinning the daggers in her hands so that they were a blur.  
  
She brought them down in angles, one arm was pulled back to guard her body but was pointing at him, the other was outstretched ready to kill. "GIVE ME BACK THE BOOK!! I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR PITIFUL LIFE, I JUST WANT THE BOOK!"  
  
Nicholas blocked the attack with a sword and a dagger of his own. The dagger was trying to get at her heart, while the other was blocking the dagger she was trying to strike him with. They pressed against their weapons trying to outmatch one another's strength.  
  
"It doesn't belong to you either..." he had been smiling the whole time and she was getting sick of it.  
  
"Technically, it does seeing how it was my father's and was in HIS study." she bit off icily.  
  
"Now why would you need a book full of locked away cards? Hmm? Who are you planning on killing?" His voice was abnormally calm and smooth. You might even say he was charming, but Sakura saw right through the mask. ((Whoadie: confused? good! ^_^ don't worry it'll be cleared up))  
  
"My victim knows who he is, makes the hunt a bit more exciting." She wasn't lying about that, she loved the thrill of hunting down the target. "You know very well why that book was locked away...I need it for those reasons..." She glared hotly at him.  
  
Nicholas slid his leg in between her legs, they were planted to keep his strength back which means he could easily take her off her feet. He swiped his leg inwards so that her locked knee gave out.  
She fell backwards but swung her leg up. It made contact with his jaw. He stumbled back a few steps surprised at the unexpected flail.  
  
When she kicked Nicholas she used him to kick-off, so that she did a full backflip. She landed on all fours panting from her earlier use of magic and the earlier match of strength.  
  
Syaoran had been working on a spell while they fought. He muttered marks and drew them into the air with his sword and hand, knitting together many complex symbols. He saw Sakura flip back and finished with the master mark. The mark wreathed his hand in golden flames as he drew it in the air. It left his hand easily, the spell hung in the air, a gglowing tracery of linked marks, rather like a belt of shining stars. He took one end gingerly, swung the whole thing round his head, and let it fly at Nicholas.  
  
Sakura felt an increase of someone's aura, her head snapped towards where Syaoran was now taking notice in what he was doing. She rolled out of the way, ducking her head down into her legs. She closed her eyes, holding her hands behind her neck incase the spell was made to explode.  
  
Syaoran turned his head away as the belt wrapped around Nicholas. A blinding golden light flashed in the area, enveloping everyone in the bright light. It was silent, except the sound of Nicholas's scream of surprise. The spell's luminice covered miles and miles of ground.  
  
"Everyone get out! This spell is only a binding spell, it won't hold him forever!!!!" He held an arm over his eyes, trying to shade them. He pulled Sakura to her feet, gripping her arm tightly but not harmfully. "Move!"  
  
Sakura pulled her arm free. "I know how to walk!" She squinted through the light, her ears twitched at Nicholas's scream. "I can't just leave without the book!"  
  
Syaoran tugged her arm again. "You can and you will!" He reached up using the blinding light to his advantage, he used two fingers to poke a pressure point on her neck. He twisted his fingers upward all in one movement, as a result, Sakura passed out falling into his arms.  
  
He picked her up, amazed at first how incredibly light she was but shook his head from the questions popping into his head. He ran with his men into an open field near the forest. He growled, ignoring the burning pain coming from his tattoo. "I just hope you can do something about my problem." He glanced down at the sleeping Sakura, a few locks of honey brown hair fell infront of her eyes. He felt a blush creep up to his cheeks, so he moved his attention to where he was going.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whoadie: sorry I have to end it like that! I hate cliffies too, but I can't just keep rambling on! I need to save some stuff for the next chapter ^_~  
  
Please review! Oh yea, Kudos to my current reviewers! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Ciao! 


	4. Familiar strangers and recalling old mem...

Whoadie: First of all I'd like to thank Chaos Angst for helping me, as you can see I have been having some uploading problems...My fic comes out in LONG LONG paragraphs when really they are all short seperated paragraphs....hmmm hope you guys can help me with this issue, I've been using Wordpad just fyi. I'd appreciate any helpful ideas since many of you are my fellow authors...  
  
Syaoran: pathetic...  
  
Whoadie: I'm computer challenge alright!!! I don't need ay of your sass! *throws pillow at Syaoran* For a sick person in a whole different state surrounded by hicks, I think I'm doing a good job!!  
  
Syaoran: Whatever...poor excuse...  
  
Whoadie: *sobs* Woe is me......  
  
Everyone: *groans* You HAD to trigger her emotional side  
  
Syaoran: She HAS no emotional side, just a light and dark side...   
  
Everyone: then what side are we seeing?  
  
Syaoran: well...I guess she has 3 sides, so this would be her pathetic, weak, side  
  
Everyone: *shakes head while sweatdropping*  
  
Whoadie: by the way, GOMEN!! *falls to knees bowing* I'M SORRY I haven't been updating! It's just school has been soo hectic with finals coming up! Crazy I tell you! School was made to suck out ur soul  
Whoadie: Oh I won't do anymore summaries, I feel like you guys would rather find out what will happen on your own and that you should already know what happened in past chapters...if not...THEN GO BACK AND READ IT!!!  
  
Dark Sorceress: *eating popcorn* ^_^ *pushes the start button for the fic* I helped!  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
// thinking to one's self  
[] spells, professions, and what not. elven language translated into English  
Suffering.  
Rated: PG-13 ((so all yall munchkins go home!! *munchkins whine while dragging off*))  
Chapter 4  
---In a grassy meadow--- ((Whoadie: by the way, this grass is like..TALL! And when I say tall I mean, T-A-L-L! Syaoran: like someone would need to be in te air to spot you, but even then it would be hard))  
It had been exactly a day from when the fire incident took place. Many of the soldiers had retreated back to Nicholas, unable to fight against the mark of servitude on their bodies. They could only look back at Syaoran with regret and some admiration at the elven girl beside him, as their bodies forced them back to their master.  
  
"Farewell Cap'n! Let's hope our paths never cross in the future..." Roiben clasped his Captain's hand firmly in his own. "For the bond on the spell that binds us to our lord may be...stronger the next time we meet...and it may blind us, so I wish you the best of health and hope you get as far away from the war that's about to break out."  
  
Syaoran nodded in understanding. If he did meet Roiben in the future, he may be forced to kill him. Will, heart, and mind was strong when put to work but when those things are clouded, confusion results and chaos breaks out.   
  
"Don't worry, I'll free both you and the others soon enough..." it's all he could say. He wasn't much of a motivational speaker, but he felt he needed to say something that would bring hope back into those hollow eyes. He was, afterall, their captain. "Farewell, better get moving your starting to pale."  
  
Roiben was indeed paling, sweat poured from his body soaking through the tunic that layed under his armor. "Aye, farewell!" He turned around, running after the other soldiers who were way ahead.  
  
Syaoran watched his men go with some envy. They COULD leave the elf master behind and never look back, but that would result a most gruesome death. They would be in so much pain from the addiction of the spell that it would kill them.   
  
They longed for death, but they returned back to Nicholas in high hopes that one day they would see their families again. He on the other hand, had nothing. The thought of revenge kept him alive and that's all he needed. Plus, he would last a few more days away from the dark elf anyways, from his magic background.  
  
//Death would be the easy way out...but it doesn't look to bad from all the things I've been through// He sat down holding his sword close with one leg tucked in and the other bent. ((Whoadie: You know how Kenshin sleeps? In that sitting position with the sword against his shoulder, with his head bent down? Yea think of that))   
  
His head was bent down, as he thought about the recent events. He looked over at the sleeping beauty next to him. //We need a plan, my dark angel. I have a feeling you know more about what's going on than I do...//  
~~~In Sakura's dream~~~  
"Another premonition...I hate these!" She stood there in a dark void, waiting for whatever force that sent her these visions to send her the picture. //I've been getting alot of these lately, something awful is going to happen//   
  
Suddenly, a scream sliced through the still darkness of the void. An unsettling grey fog shrouded the area. She turned her head in all directions trying to find out where the scream came from. //Come on...scream again if you want help!! Wait...what am I saying?! I don't need to help anyone but myself!//   
  
She heard the scream again, her body whirled around pinpointing the location of the scream. She took a step forward but stopped herself //what am I doing??? Since when did I care of the well-being of others?//   
  
She clenched her eyes shut as she argued with herself. //But it could be someone from my village! I need to know what happened to them!!//   
  
She opened her eyes feeling someone clutching her shoulder. "Who are you?" She looked back out of the corner of her eye, strange how she didn't attack him when he touched her.   
  
"I think you already know the answer to that.." The voice echoed around her, sending a shiver down her spine. His hand retreated.  
  
"Alright smart guy, can you atleast tell me what's going on?" She turned to look at him but he was gone. //weird...//   
  
She listened for the scream again. Nothing. She growled at herself. //I should have gone when I had the chance//  
  
"So you DO have a heart, interesting. I was actually starting to believe that you didn't have one." He spoke, tucking some fallen strands behind her ear so she could hear him better.  
  
Her ear twitched from his breath. //Too close for comfort.// She reached up, grabbing his hand. "Don't touch me."   
  
He smirked, taking his hand back. "Touchy...well I suppose you want to know who's screaming, why, where..yadda yadda.." He trailed off showing no interest in the topic.  
  
She rolled her eyes, getting into a more relaxed stance. She crossed her arms in an impatient way, "Well it WOULD help clear things up a bit, but I suppose that would be too easy for someone like you to just hand out."  
  
She shot a dark glare at him. "There's always a catch, so what is it?"  
  
The cloaked man chuckled. "What happened to the sweet, innocent Sakura I used to know?"   
  
"Your stalling!! Now tell me!!" She took a step closer towards the figure, so that she peered into the dark shadow of the hood.  
  
She could sense a frown on his face, "You really don't recognize me? Well I suppose you wouldn't with this get-up." He brought up a gloved hand, clutching the rim of his hood. Black lightning shot into his hand when he tried to pull down the hood.   
  
Sakura jumped back from the sudden bolt. Her face remained expressionless but her heart was racing. //Why didn't he scream?// Her eyes tried to see past the darkness under the hood. //He's so familiar...//  
  
He flexed his hand, letting out a short laugh. "Heh, annoying spell. " He turned his hood towards him. "But that's where you come in, squirt."  
  
Her pupils grew smaller, making her orbs seem bigger. She stepped back hearing her nickname. "What did you say?" She couldn't hide the surprise in her voice.   
  
"You mean you haven't figured it out yet? I'm scared to think of how you would do as a full fledge assassin. Your problem-solving skills suck!" Sarcasm dripped from his words as she waved a finger at her, silently saying 'tsk tsk.'  
  
"Grrr! Not funny Tori!" She stormed back over to him, ready to pounce on his shadow ass. "Explain...please..." Her voice was remarkably calm, but what really got Tori was how she wouldn't look at him, hair covered her eyes as she stared at the ground. She always met his gaze, showing she didn't fear him or anything he said.  
  
He sighed inwardly remembering she was still his little sister and even though she denied it, she could still feel pain and angst. "Alright alright, chin up squirt, you can't develop emotions now."   
  
She kept her gaze to the floor, if she looked up she knew she would burst. Years of training to control one's emotions would come flooding out and she would die before it happened. She kept her voice low and even. "Where are the others..."  
  
He tilted his head at her feeling her mixed feelings building. "Do you remember from when you were a little girl, the place Master Yue took you on your very first hunt?"   
  
She closed her eyes trying to recall that memory. "I don't remember...why can't you just tell me??"  
  
He shook his head even though she couldn't see it. "I can't exactly give a straight answer under this spell, the guy has a sense of humor..."  
  
She let out a frustrated sigh. "Guess that covers about all my questions, you won't be able to answer them and it's only a matter of time before I wake up."  
  
He gripped her shoulders, shaking her fiercely. "Wake up! This isn't something you can procrastinate in, you have to figure this out NOW!"   
  
She ran her hand up his arm, pressing her thumb into the indention of where the elbow bent. She pressed in harder, making him let go. She dropped down to all fours, kicking her legs up so she went to a handstand. She wrappped her legs around Tori's head, pulling him down. "Family or not, do NOT lay a hand on me!"  
  
Tori fell forward placing his hands firmly on her ankles as he fell. He landed on his back with a thump, giving Sakura a satisfied smile. He smirked, "You would have lost, ya know..."   
  
"I'm not the one laying on my back!" Her eyes shot daggers at him.  
  
"hmmmm, not yet..." With that he jabbed his thumb and pointer finger into both of her legs in certain areas.  
  
"I can't move!!" She struggled to get up but couldn't move her legs.  
  
"Well duh, that pressure point paralyzes you for atleast 30 minutes. The funny thing is you'll be awake before those 30 minutes are up, and everything that happens here effects you in the real world." He gave out a small laugh, a brother who was enjoying teasing his sister kindof laugh. "Now say goodbye!" He tossed her up in the air.  
  
Her eyes widened as she panicked. //Master Yue never taught us this!!!// She ran her hands over her leg trying to find some sort of point that would release her from the bond.   
  
//Master Yue only teaches you the basics, you have to study the rest// he added into her mind sternly.  
  
//Now you tell me// She turned her body so that she was going down head first. She used her hands as a cushion, bending at the elbows to soak up the fall. Pain shot through her arms as her muscles screamed at her. She rolled forward, landing on her back.  
  
Tori peered down at his sister, "Told you, you would be on your back." ((Whoadie: Don't even take that the wrong way, that's nasty!)) "Now that your paralyzed, think...long and hard of that place..." His voice lost the humor and was now very serious.  
  
She closed her eyes trying to recall her first hunt.  
  
***FLASHBACK*** ((Whoadie: I love doing that! It's like....FLASHBACK! Dun dun daaa))  
  
"Don't wander too far, we're in human territory and you know they fear us. We don't want to cause a sudden war, now do we?" Master Yue gazed at his pupils with hollow eyes.  
  
Snickering could be heard from the back of his group. "They can't hurt us, it's a win-win situation. Let's exterminate the humans now when they least expect it that way we don't have to worry about any 'war'. "  
  
Glass spikes flew at Nicholas, pinning him up against a tree. The tree stuff his mouth leaves to muffle the sounds of Nicholas's angry cries. Master Yue walked slowly towards him. Students moved quickly to get out of their teachers way.  
  
At first, the two just stared at each other. The silence was intense for everybody, it dragged on for what seemed like forever. Then Master Yue slapped Nicholas across the face, no expression played on his face. "You obviously have much to learn Yukio, let's hope you don't live up to your codename..." (( Yukio in japanese means "Get's what he wants, God will nourish" for those who didn't know))  
  
"We have made peace with the humans and only hunt out those who threaten that peace. That is who we are, we were given this duty by the Cala'quessir!" [ Profession: High Elf] His eyes narrowed down at Yukio, "Are you threatening that peace?"  
  
Yukio glared back but thought better of it, he spit out some of the leaves so he could speak. He lowered his gaze down to the forest floor. "No...forgive my rude outburst it won't happen again."   
  
Master Yue stared down at Nicholas's bent head, he turned walking away from him. "No it won't, get back in line." He waved his hand in a half circle, the glass spikes flashed before disappearing. ((Whoadie: by the way...even though it's Sakura's flashback she can't see or hear what the person's thinking! I just added their thinking to help you better understand the character's profile))  
  
Nicholas dropped down to the floor, he was on all fours coughing up the rest of the leaves. //I'll just show you next time...// He stood up, dusting himself off. A small smirk on his lips as he looked at Master Yue's back. He stole a look at Sakura who had been studying her prey. //Even you, will have to listen.//  
  
Sakura looked down at her client from the bushes. She watched the mortal man converse with his friends happily, unaware that he would never speak to them again. She felt someone's eyes on her back but didn't turn. It was always the same person and quite frankly...it gave her the creeps. That damn Algaryulnaer [Insult: "Bloodsucker"] ((Whoadie: well he IS obsessed with killing..it seemed to fit!)) seemed to stalk her ever since she began her training.  
  
Master Yue crouched down next to Sakura. "Have you gathered enough information about your victim?"  
  
Sakura nodded, watching the man enter his home. She looked up at the sky, the sun was starting to set. She turned to her master. "Just give the command..."  
  
"Remember to be quick, not a sound, no evidence of you nor the body, and be clean." He gave the signal for the other students to gather around him. "You know what to do, one scream and the whole mission is screwed, got it?" The students nodded. "Report back to the village when your done." He stood, slinking back into the shadows to watch their progress during the mission.  
  
The sun had set and the moon was just rising above the treetops. She looked up at the sky waiting for the large cloud to cover the bright moonlight. They had planned for this mission for the longest time and had waited till the weather acted in their favor.  
  
Sakura was the first to creep out of the bushes. //Here I come...// The cloud blocked all the light in the sky, making the area pitch black. Her eyes seemed to glow in the darkness as she neared the quiet, sleeping village.  
  
***END OF FLASHBACK***  
  
She blinked a few times then looked at the silent Tori. "Well that didn't help!"   
  
Tori was smiling even though she couldn't see it. "I think it did...hmm time for you to wake up squirt." He raised both of his hands, water rose from the floor. It slowly rose higher at each passing minute.  
  
Tori stood there silently as the water rose around them. "Sorry, but it's the only painless way out for me..."  
  
She didn't want to know why so she kept quiet. A sudden thought struck her. "What about me!!!! I can't exactly swim right now!" She looked down at the water, it reached her stomach and was quickly rising.  
  
Tori shrugged, "Your not exactly dead so it shouldn't hurt you...you'll think your drowning but will wake up all safe and sound." The water rose higher, licking Sakura's chin as it threatened her life.  
  
Her eyes widened at his words but her exclamation was drowned out by the water rushing into her mouth. She closed it as the water rose above her head. She stared ahead, looking at the slowly disappearing Tori. Pieces of him seem to just vanish a little bit at a time. She shook her head trying to find some mistake in what he said. //Maybe I just misunderstood his words, he might have meant something else...//  
  
Tori's voice echoed into her mind //I think you know just what I meant, accepting it is a different matter for you though...// He trailed off as the rest of him disappeared.  
  
She clenched her eyes shut screaming into the water, but only bubbles came out.  
  
_______________________________________________________________________  
  
Everyone: *glare*  
  
Whoadie: WHAT?!?!  
  
Everyone: *continues to glare*  
  
Whoadie: so I left it sitting there again....SORRY! Geez...  
  
Dark Sorceress: that made no sense  
  
Whoadie: so? You try to write without sleep  
  
Dark Sorceress: I do  
  
Whoadie: shut up... 


	5. New ally and remembering old friends

Whoadie: Hi! ^_^;;; hee hee...sorry about the LONG delay? *ducks down from flying objects headed in her direction*  
  
Roiben: LONG delay? It's been 2 months...  
  
Whoadie: ^_^;;; sorry?  
  
Everyone: *tackles her* SORRY ISN'T GOOD ENOUGH!  
  
Whoadie: *squished* Well I hope this chapter is still good, I sort of forgot the plot over the past two months and hopefully it will still be as marvelous as I planned for it to be!  
  
Nicholas: Shut up! *gags her with a sock* TO THE BATHROOM EVERYONE! WE HAVE TAKEN THE AUTHORESS HOSTAGE!  
  
Everyone: *cheers, marching with the squirming whoadie, to the bathroom*  
  
Whoadie: T~T *betrayed*  
  
Kevin-chan: (Mah home fry!) *pushes button to start fic* ^_^  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`  
  
// thinking  
  
".." is talking  
  
[ ] translations from elven to english  
  
Rated: PG-13 (Whoadie: AND I MEAN IT! *hears groans, children under 13 leave* )  
  
Suffering  
  
Sakura sat up gasping, while clutching her throat. She could still taste the sea water that she swallowed in her dream. She ran a hand through her hair only to pull back a sweaty hand. She could hear her brother's voice laughing at her panicked state. She growled, clenching at the grass beneath her. She tugged at it, pulling a handful of grass free from the ground. She tossed it angrily ahead of her, picturing it hitting Tori's smug looking face.  
  
"I thought elves were connected somewhat to the Earth, so why go trying to destroy it? Mankind is here for that." a husky voice chuckled from beside her.   
  
She turned only to see a pair of auburn eyes staring back at her with such intensity. She was never one to back down but for some reason she looked away quickly. She couldn't seem to bring herself to glare back at those eyes who seemed to look at her with such hope. She couldn't even save her village so what help could she possibly give to this stranger.  
  
"What, are you saying you don't remember me? I'm hurt!" another laugh escaped his dry lips. Weird, he was never one to joke yet here he was, kidding around with someone obviously more anti-social than him. He stopped laughing when he caught the look on her face. Her face was looking down towards the ground and had pain all over it. //I don't think she was hurt during the time she arrived and her "departure." So why the look of pain?//   
  
As he went over what could be wrong with her, he took the time to look at her. Sure he had seen her in his arms before but he didn't really LOOK at her. He took up her body features, smiling appraisingly at her "fitness." The most luring feature though was her face. Emerald eyes that were as lush and exotic as the forest she was born in. Full pink lips that were set in a grim line at the moment, got him thinking suddenly at how they would feel and taste. He shook his head from those kinds of thoughts as he took in the rest of her face. A tint of pink covered her well toned pale cheeks from her earlier nightmare. She was gorgeous!  
  
He felt himself blush when she caught him staring at her. He quickly masked his face of any emotion. Only when he heard his name did he turn to look at her.   
  
"Li? That's your name, right?" it came out colder than she had hopped it would. She REALLY needed to relax. "Well answer me, mortal! Don't gawk!"  
  
Li blinked at her before recovering. "Yea, how'd you know? You were out, I never really had the time to actually tell you."  
  
"I heard your men screaming your name while they were being burned in the forest..." a look of regret and pity crossed her eyes. "They asked for your help despite the fact that they knew you would never come."  
  
Li sat up straight, taking somewhat offense to that last statement. His men were good men and didn't deserve to die that way. Unfortunately, being the village bumkins they were, they weren't all too bright in the attic. "They were only calling for the one whose been there to guide them from the beginning! And they were right! I could have saved them!"  
  
Her face remained as smooth as stone but her voice held that same annoyed edge to it. "Then why didn't you? Either you couldn't or you didn't want to is the only reasonable answer here..." she stared, waiting for him to answer her trick question. It was one of her talents to get to know others without actually participating in useless "chit-chat." She just manipulated them till they poured out enough information to get an idea of what their personality was really like.  
  
Anger started to boil up in him, just who did she think she was? HE SAVED HER!! She should be grateful! "I was busy taking care of some old business..."  
  
She smirked. //Arrogant AND conceited...common in man.// "So you rather finish old grudges than to help save people in the present? For all you know, you could have prevented their deaths and they would be living right now," she kept a cool composure even though she could see Li shaking with anger. "but their dead. No thanks to you, they were pleading to an closed ear! Whatever happened to you in the past, don't you think you could have prevented a similar event from happening now? Maybe by helping them?"  
  
"I...didn't want to help them..." she looked a bit shocked from his response, she had been waiting for a more whiny explanation. //He's different, so the truth can come out of a man's mouth.//   
  
He went on to explain himself, "I didn't want to! I was blinded by my own hatred towards our lord-" he paused, he didn't have to say that anymore. He had no respect for the man, so why give him such high authority? "I loathe Nicholas, I guess it was enough to turn a deaf ear to those who I really could have saved." he sighed. "But I only wanted to save myself..." //From this cancer like virus in my body that eats away at my very mind and will//  
  
His eyes stared at the ground remembering what she said last, //They were just like me, alone and in need of help. She's right, they didn't need to die. An event like that certainly doesn't need to be repeated in the future, I couldn't help me and those in the past, nor could I keep those in the present from harm but maybe...// he looked at the girl next to him. //Maybe I can make it up and prevent future repetition, by protecting her and my remaining men! Even those captured elves.//  
  
She shrugged. She had gathered the information she needed, he was just another stupid human who felt sorry for himself. "Whatever, what's done is done." she tried to stand but ended up falling forward, right on her face. She muffled an 'oof' into the grass. //Damn you Tori and your pressure points!//  
  
Li had been watching her and couldn't help but let a snicker escape his lips. She deserved it, she was ignorant and full of herself. Not to mention as cold as ice, maybe colder. "So what's your name?"  
  
She pushed herself up with her arms, spitting out a few blades of grass. "Ying-fa." No way was she giving away her real name, she wasn't that stupid. Code-name would have to do for now.  
  
"It suits you..." he added that quietly to himself, he winced from the pain escalating in his ignored arm. The tattoo pulsed, reminding him what he needed to ask her. "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"No."   
  
He blinked at her subtle response. "Well I need your help."  
  
She rolled her eyes, and so did the whole damn world. "What do you want, human?"  
  
//Ouch..// that human/mortal thing was quite annoying and a hard blow to the ego. It's not like he asked everyday for help and she wasn't making it any easier. "Nicholas..." he continued after recovering from the look she sent him for saying that name. "He put this mark on me..."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It binds me to servitude and I need it taken off or else...I die."  
  
"Is that my problem?" she was rubbing her legs harshly, thinking it would somehow speed up the paralysis time limit.   
  
//Again, ouch.// he was becoming fed up with her attitude but really didn't want to start any fights at the moment. He needed her help. "Yes it is! I saved you and I'm calling in a favor!" He paled at what he said, he didn't exactly want those exact words to come out  
  
She stopped her rubbing and glared at him. One that usually sent her opponent in sparring cowering. "I didn't ask to be saved now did I? I do recall saying that I needed a certain object before I left! DID I NOT!!" Her voice was slowly becoming louder, you could practically see frost forming off of her words.  
  
"YOU were the one who grabbed ME! YOU were the one who decided to kidnap ME! I wouldn't have died as easily as you thought I would have! I'M NOT SOME PUNY WOMAN WHO CAN'T HOLD HER OWN IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE!" she wanted to so badly rip his throat out but was stuck, weaponless. That reminded her, she mentally slapped herself. She noticed her weapons were taken from her and were lying only a few inches from Li. //Damn him..//  
  
He took in every harsh blow she made with her mouth. He made the mistake of letting those words fall out so it was only right to take what was being thrown at him. Once she somewhat settled down he mumbled quietly. "Like you said earlier, those men didn't deserve to die...if I were to live and help you, I would be somewhat on the road to repentance. I also want to keep future events, like the one you just saw back there, from happening again."   
  
She took in a breath trying to calm her worked up nerves. "I don't need help."  
  
His heart sunk, he was going to die here alone. Well things could have been worse, he could have been stuck back at the camp getting ready to move out. A small grin started to spread on his lips, finally I get to rest. But the process to get there wouldn't be an easy and clean one. He grimaced and the mark prevented him from any suicidal attempts. He'd tried...MANY times. He looked up seeing Ying-fa smile in triumph.  
  
She stood up shakily but her feet were planted into the ground sternly! "Aha! Success! The pressure point wore off!" She walked over behind Li, retrieving her weapons. She fastened them to their rightful places, ignoring the man totally. She felt cold hand reach into her mind as if slapping her.   
  
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her face, that was unnatural. Sure her kind was in tuned with forest spirits but this was ridiculous! Why would they be trying to contact her! It's not like she could do anything for them at the moment. //Don't be stupid Sakura!// she gasped at the voice in her head. Who had said that? It sounded like...  
  
//Yea it's me, squirt. I came back to try and knock some sense into ya but look how that turned out...// she sweat dropped at his sarcastic attitude. Always was one to joke around. //Your being a total bitch! I knew you were coldhearted but I didn't know you would be downright inhumane. Yea yea your not human...but the analogy stays! Look at him...// She scowled. //LOOK AT HIM!//  
  
She turned her head slightly, ready to take in a pathetic weeping man. What she found was a proud looking human sitting with his back straight as if ready to welcome fate with open arms. Was that fear that flickered in his eyes? She also noticed a bit of regret.   
  
//You went off with that speech earlier and now your going to just let him suffer?//  
  
She groaned. "You heard that? I was only trying to analyze him without actually having to TALK to him!"  
  
Li raised an eyebrow at the girl above him. She had finished her packing but was just standing around now, talking to herself. "Is everything alright?"  
  
She ignored him, arguing with her dead brother. //Really now Sakura, father taught you right and wrong, where'd that piece of information go?// "How DARE you bring father into this!" She was very protective of her parents, she loved them both dearly. Even though they were probably both dead now, she still had a lil tinge of hope glowing in the dark depths of her heart. (Whoadie: Yesh, her mama is alive, well for now.)  
  
//WELL?! WHERE DID IT GO SAKURA?! I know you love him! We both do! So why ignore what precious knowledge he has bestowed upon you? //  
  
Her eyes widened, he was right. She was betraying her father's words. She always absorbed what he taught her, he was one of the wisest people she knew. So where had this, right from wrong, gone too?  
  
She could hear Tori sigh. //Look, just remember where you came from and what you are. Then take a good look at how you are now. Is this how you wanted to be when released into the world? After you achieved Sereg' wethrin? [Profession: Assassin]// his voice faded from her mind but that annoying question will stood.   
  
She clenched her hands into fists, digging her nails into the palm of her hands. The last thing she wanted was to see disappointment on her father's face, even if he was dead. "I don't need help but...I could use a good ally." //He might prove himself useful in tight spots// she smirked to herself.  
  
He looked up at her nodding. "Understood."  
  
//Better get that marking off of him, that soldier/slave talk is annoying// She crouched down next to him. "Remove your armor and roll up your sleeve."  
  
He nodded, without so much as a blush, he did what she asked. He watched with interest as she closed her eyes. Her hand hovered over his glowing tattoo. He couldn't understand what she was saying, but it was beautiful. The Language she spoke of rolled off her tongue like morning dew off of a blade of grass. Each silky word seemed to pound into his ears. He could see her aura, it was...pink? //Go figure...// The aura remained only a dim shining outline on her body. It was only in the early stage of the spell she was working up. He let his own aura out, thinking maybe it would somehow help her.   
  
She didn't stop, the spell wouldn't let her. She had to complete it. She felt his aura release and was in awe. No human possessed this kind of strength. They had an aura since elves and humans were some what connected. Something in history she didn't really think was important, it had to do with being favored by the Gods? A battle, segregation and somehow Atlantis was mixed into all of this.  
  
Sakura shook her head, blocking it out of her mind. She would dwell on the subject it later. She had finished chanting and was clutching the amulet that hanged around her neck. A key with a star on the end. It was a childhood trinket of hers, the only memory of her mother she had left.   
  
~~~Flashback~~~  
  
"Sakura! SAKURA! Where are you!" A beautiful woman looked around for her daughter. (Whoadie: Forgive me for not going into detail. I forgot how she looked! ^_^;;;; don't hurt me! *cowers*) "SAKURA!!"  
  
"Here I am mama!" A little girl with light brown hair and large innocent green eyes ran up to her mother's open arms. Her pink frilly dress waved in the wind, one small hand clutched at the white hat that sat teetering on her head from the strong gust of wind.   
  
"Where were you?" Her mother hugged her briefly, all her plans to scold Sakura disappeared from one smile from the little girl.  
  
"Nicho stole my hat! But Ran-ran took it away from him and gave it back!" She smiled impishly.  
  
"Nicholas was picking on you again?" Her eyes narrowed a little. That boy was quite the menace.   
  
"Mmmhmm! Don't worry Tori is telling his parents right now, but he didn't look to happy about it. Me thinks, his parents don't listen to Tori. Nicho says his parents like the bad things he does, it's a sign of..pow..po.." She cleared her mouth by blowing a raspberry. "Power!" She smiled.  
  
She laughed at her daughter's innocence and silliness. //Amazing how she could still manage to hold onto it when other children have long given up on staying a child. These council decisions of training children to kill at a young age are outrageous! I guess they have their reasons...//  
  
"What did you need me for mama?"  
  
"Oh..yes, well I have something for you." She set the curious Sakura down as she disappeared into the tree hut.   
  
"Oh a present?" Sakura followed her in, her little hands clapping in excitement. "But mama, ish not my birthday yet!" a little giggle echoed from underneath the white hat.   
  
"I was going to wait to give this to you when you get older but, now seems like the perfect time..." a small tear fell from her eyes. It trailed down her smooth cheek then dropped from her chin.  
  
The tear fell onto Sakura's nose, the girl wiggled her nose with annoyance. She wiped it away with the back of her hand. "Mama, why are you crying? You don't have to give me the present if you don't want too..." she gripped onto her mother's leg, clenching the material of her dress in her hands.  
  
She quickly wiped away the wetness on her cheek, plastering a forced smile on her red lips. She gave a short laugh at what Sakura said. //To think she was responsible for my tears, your one of a kind Sakura. I hope you stay this sweet and innocent after I'm gone.//  
  
She was a seer for the council, she saw the future problems that could sever the peace between the humans and the other races, including the elves, and reported to them. That's where the Sereg' wethrin came in. ((Whoadie: I'm not repeating myself....-_-;;; *dun wanna say it means Assassin again*))   
  
Unfortunately, she saw a glimpse of an upcoming danger to the whole planet. She reported it but the council said the other Seers said it was highly unlikely since they hadn't received any visions yet. She pleaded and argued but was turned away. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach only grew from that day. She went to her husband, one of the advisors to the High Elf, but he said there was nothing he could do.  
  
So here she was, standing before her only daughter. She was going to prepare her if this "Apocalypse" so to speak, were to happen. Tori was capable of handling himself, he had greatly excelled in his classes with Master Yue and was now studying other techniques to become stronger. As for Sakura, she was going to give her something to help her in the future since she was still, a little girl.   
  
"Do you know what this is, love?" She took out a necklace, with the miniature star key dangling from it, from a plain mahogany box that was kept high out of reach on a shelf.   
  
Sakura tilted her head at the necklace then shook her head. "It's pwetty though!"  
  
"Hmm I guess you wouldn't, You've only seen it once but you were very little," she untied the necklace and draped it around Sakura's neck only to fasten it again. "this came with a book your father has, this book is like no other you have seen. It's powers are said to be great but is sleeping." She was trying her best to explain it to a child.  
  
Sakura giggled, "Mama, how can a book sleep?"  
  
She smiled, "Let's just say a magical spell was put on it so that it wouldn't hurt anybody."  
  
"Why would a book hurt somebody?"  
  
"The book itself is harmless, love, but in a bad person's hands...only bad things would happen."  
  
"You said it had a magical spell so it wouldn't hurt anybody, well then it isn't really harmless, is it?"  
  
She laughed at her child's wisdom, "No, I guess not, but the power it holds won't act on it's own it has to have someone to wield it, understand? Now if someone bad got a hold of it THEN bad things would happen, but if the power source is cut off then the bad person can't do anything."  
  
"Ooooh...."  
  
She shook her head, she knew she was confusing the girl more and more and it was no use trying to make sense of it, it was a complicated story to tell just in general.   
  
"Now this necklace changed..."  
  
"It did? Why? How?'  
  
"Well when your father was handed this book from the High Elf to study, this necklace fell out. He was too involved in the book trying to solve it's hidden puzzles that he didn't see it fall, but I did. This sweet little angel got there before me. When she touched it...it changed.."  
  
"Who was the angel?"  
  
"You, love."  
  
Sakura blinked, it changed because of her? "But why?"  
  
Her mother shrugged, "To this day the Gods only know and haven't blessed me a vision of why my child was able to change an ancient relic. Not even your father could figure it out."  
  
"Why are you giving it to me?"  
  
"It's only right to give the Chosen their selected items."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
She bent down, poking Sakura's nose. "This key chose you for some unknown purpose, by changing it revealed that you have a link to it. It fed off of your aura, changed and bonded. It's connected to your very soul and was only put away for safety measures. You were only a toddler then but now your old enough to take care of it. Do you understand, Sakura?"  
  
She nodded, gripping on to the little key in her hands tightly. Somehow, she felt it was her destiny to be wearing this key. "Does it do anything?"  
  
"I don't know, love. Its depth of power is unknown. In time it'll reveal it's true face to you, but don't worry about it now. Go play with Ran-Ran, he's waiting for you."  
  
Sure enough, a small brown headed boy came toppling in. He grinned as Sakura pulled him up from the floor.   
  
"Can you come out now?"  
  
Sakura nodded. She waved to her mother before exiting her home. "Is it time for lessons yet?" She walked along side of Ran-ran, heading towards the sparring arena.  
  
Ran-ran shook his head, "Nah, Master Yue is away on a mission with the advanced team right now."  
  
"Was Tori with them?"  
  
Ran-ran nodded. "I saw him leave, your lucky to have such a cool older brother. I don't like my older siblings." he wrinkled his nose in distaste.  
  
She giggled, "Yea, but Tori can be such a meany sometimes."  
  
Ran-ran puffed out his chest trying to look brave. "When he's mean come and get me and I'll beat him up for you!"   
  
She poked him in the stomach, making him blow out all his air. "Thankies Ran-ran, your the best."  
  
Ran-ran smirked. "I know..."  
  
~~~End of Flashback~~~  
  
"Ran-ran..." her eyes became glossy from held back tears, she would never let them fall.   
  
"Hey, you alright? What did you say? Can can?" he had finished putting on his armor and was just watching Ying-fa now. She zoned out after the spell and didn't seem to come back to reality till now, he hoped the spell didn't take a lot out of her they would need her at her very best when they attacked.  
  
Ying-fa shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "Nothing...just had a blast from the past, that's all." she bit her lip remembering her childhood friend.   
  
Ran-ran and his family were taken to see the High Elf a few months later and was put on trial. Nicholas's family had accused them of plotting with the humans against the elves. Ran-ran's mother wasn't on very good terms with the Council and High Elf since she basically betrayed her kind and mated with a human. But seeing how they didn't want to waste a good Seer and would never condemn an elven child to death, they let her stay in the village. The human, however, was to be loved from afar and would never be allowed to enter their territory. On one her usual visits, she was stopped by a few humans.   
  
They weren't the friendliest of sorts and were jealous of the elven kind. She was, of course, trained in the art of combat and only needed to unsheathe her sword to get her point across. Nicholas saw the whole thing and took it as an immediate threat to the elves. He proclaimed that she was the leader of their group and even had them under control since she didn't need to actually physically hurt them.   
  
Interesting how she was only one woman against at least 10 men. It didn't make sense. So he made the connection that she was their leader and her little group was confronting her over problems. A disappearing problem. Their friends were disappearing in the middle of the night and they made the connection that the Elves had something to do with it. He guessed her army was slowly decreasing in numbers and the men were getting nervous and came to her since, her being an elf, would know what was going on.  
  
The Council believed Nicholas's story and the High Elf could only shake his head with disappointment that his kindred would dare to betray them. Her and her family were sentenced to live with her human lover and were never allowed to return. The High Elf didn't have the heart to have her killed. Despite the Council and Nicholas's families pleas for her and her family to die instead of exile, he let her go.   
  
That day, innocent and sweet Sakura died. She no longer had her best friend, playmate, and protector. She had to become stronger for him and herself. She needed to protect herself against these humans who took him away from her, that's where her hatred for them grew.   
  
It was their fault that Ran-ran was sent away, it was their fault for putting a fine boundary on war and peace and it was their fault for living! She became cold and distant, friends meant nothing to an assassin, so why should she bother? However, if she ever found Ran-ran she would immediately rekindle their friendship. He was her other half after all.  
  
She stood up when Li stood. She continued to linger in her past thoughts, they were great fuel for increasing her hatred towards Nicholas. He was also the very reason her Ran-ran was sent away. He would pay....   
  
"Ready to go?"  
  
"Yea..." her green eyes sparkled dangerously. The hunt was on.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whoadie: ^_^;; how was that? I'm sorry if it sucked or confused you! *hides in shame* I'M SORRY! I'M FAILURE OF AN AUTHOR! *sobs*  
  
Ran-ran: ^_^ Me lurves you! *huggles*  
  
Whoadie: Oh your so cute! *huggles back* Please Review! 


	6. Hurtful past revealed

Whoadie: Hola! Well straight to a reviewer's question, yes Tomoyo and Eriol will be in this fic, can't leave them out! ^_^ Infact, they're in this very chapter too! What a coincidence! Heh heh ^_^;;; Well enjoy!  
  
Roiben: No talking…*gags her*  
  
Nicholas: *speaking to Syaoran on the other side of the bathroom door* No, we won't come out until our demands are met!  
  
Syaoran: Which are?  
  
Nicholas: A free large popcorn complete with Blue Raspberry icees for all of us at the movie Pirates of the Caribbean!  
  
Syaoran: -_-;;;; is that all?  
  
Nicholas: and higher wages!  
  
Syaoran: How high?  
  
Nicholas: 60% of the credit she gets from her reviewers  
  
Syaoran: 20%  
  
Nicholas: 45%  
  
Syaoran: 30%  
  
Nicholas: 35% or no deal  
  
Syaoran: ah too high for me *walks away*  
  
Whoadie: T~T *still gagged*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
//…// thinking  
  
"…" talking  
  
  
  
[..] elven language translated to English  
  
Suffering  
  
Chapter 6   
  
She landed softly on the ground next to Li, who was busy sharpening his sword. He didn't bother to look up when he asked, "Did you find what you were looking for?"  
  
She slowly began to raise herself from her crouching position, that she landed in so her legs could soak up the large drop from the VERY tall tree. "Affirmative."  
  
He nearly cut himself on the sword from her answer, he was hoping for a more…detailed answer, one that didn't have 3 words or less. He had been getting the cold shoulder since the beginning of the trip and couldn't help but miss his old "army" companions bickering and meaningless chatter. Anything was better than the way she kept herself so locked up and distant. Almost as if she were afraid to show any emotion at all. "Well?"  
  
"Well what?" she was slightly irritated at the time they had lost from her being knocked out, her argument with her dead brother, and his stupid whining about his mark. "What do you want now?"  
  
He turned his cold amber eyes towards her, no one deserved the kind of treatment he was getting. "Oh I don't know, did you see some nice looking clouds while you were up there? Hmm? Perhaps one that looked like a cute fluffy bunny? It would have been really annoying if you actually TOLD me what it was you were looking for, but that's alright, I quite enjoy this little cold bitch attitude your giving me, it allows me to guess!" he mocked enthusiasm with every word.  
  
She scowled at him, "If I saw anything that would be of great importance I would have informed you, human!" she was fed up with his alpha male dominance attitude.   
  
"We're back to the human vs. immortal thing again? It would kill you to actually address me by my birth given name, wouldn't it?" he returned her glare.  
  
"I pity the mother who birthed you, she should have-" she paused mid-sentence.   
  
Li was on his feet with his sword raised so that the point of his blade was centimeters from her right eye. "Don't EVER talk about my mother like that…"  
  
For once in her life, she was speechless. She could only blink her emerald eyes at the blade that would end her acute eyesight.  
  
He sighed, sitting back down. He returned to busying himself by sharpening his blade. His eyes were narrowed as he concentrated on his task.   
  
An uncomfortable silence rose as the two refused to speak. Sakura could only stare at Li with questioning eyes. //Why is he so upset over his mother? I wonder what became of his family…wait what do I care?//  
  
As if reading her thoughts, Li spoke without looking at her, "My mother was killed, along with my 4 sisters."  
  
"What about your father?" she hoped he wasn't a bastard, she would feel so embarrassed for her question.  
  
"My father…he disappeared awhile ago," he stopped his sharpening. He slowly turned his head so that he could look at her from the corner of his eyes. "Killed…"  
  
She shifted uneasily in his gaze. //Why is he looking at me like that?// "How can you be sure? He disappeared, you said."  
  
"Well, I was only like…10 then I don't really remember my exact age, but I was sent by my mother to go fetch my father for dinner. He had been out to gather some medicine from the apothecary since Feimei was sick, she's my sister by the way. Night was falling fast but I could see him conversing with a few of our neighbors he passed by. That's when I witnessed a shadow looming behind him…and then he was gone."  
  
"So you suspect this, shadowy figure killed your father?" she tried to make the question seem innocent and random but she couldn't help but feel like she was being accused of something.  
  
"I do remember a distinct part of the, figure, that took him. It's eyes, they still haunt me in my dreams. Those predatory, empty, soulless green eyes…" (Whoadie: Make the connection from my earlier chapter about her first mission ever and her eyeing her prey at that village! With her talking to the dead Touya about it and all.)  
  
A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her now pale face, she had no reason to be scared if she wanted she could take down this human with no effort at all but for some reason all she could do was shiver from the cold rushing down her spine. "What would you do to the killer?"  
  
He resumed his sharpening, lightening his accusing glare. "I would merely return the favor."  
  
"I see…" she looked down at her hands. She stared down at them, almost picturing the blood of those she killed on them.   
  
"She was elven…"  
  
"She? It was dark you shouldn't have been able to tell!" it came out way to defensively, she immediately shut her mouth.   
  
"Believe me, me being a guy, you can always find the feminine features even if you were blind."   
  
"Well about her being elven…I'm sure you were mistaken."  
  
"I'm sure I'm not, I know what I saw and I saw a strong pink aura that could only belong to an elf. My mother taught me enough to know the difference between human and elven auras."  
  
"…." she was starting to fidget now, he was getting more and more accurate with her description.   
  
"By the way, do you happen to know an Eriol?"  
  
Sakura blinked back at him, how did he know about Eriol? He was elven, so how could Li possible know him? "Yes…why?"  
  
He looked up, with the glare still on his face. Auburn locks of hair fell in front of his amber eyes. "Forget it..let's get going." He sheathed his sword, the click it made echoed in the silence. He stood up and turned his back to her.   
  
"Right…" she stood also, heading in the direction of the very same village of her first hunt. Touya said it was a clue to where her family and the rest of the tribe was, so that's where she would start looking. Little did she know that she would encounter a painful past.  
  
~~~Nicholas~~~  
  
He walked along the line of tents his soldiers took refuge in. He snarled in disgust at the human smell that surrounded the camp,"Hopefully, this'll end soon." He stopped on the hill that overlooked the village ruins. Nothing but burnt wood and pieces of skeletons that were left behind from the animals, was all that was left.  
  
He held the book out in front of him, "Let's see why the old man kept you locked away in the back of his puny library.." The book sat silently in his hands.   
  
He tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. He tugged harder but it remained closed. He threw it a few yards away from him out of fury. "What the hell! I've seen Ying-fa open it numerous of times, so why can't I?"   
  
"Sir, an elven girl and boy escaped the cages." a soldier said while approaching him.  
  
"That's impossible! They should be near dead from the burning of the forest!" // I hold the book to keep me alive so how the hell are they living?!//  
  
The soldier was silent, thinking carefully on how to answer this. "Well what of the girl you spoke of? How would she survive then?"  
  
Nicholas smirked, "You don't know Ying-fa like I know her, she'd find a way to survive."  
  
"Well the boy was carrying some sort of staff and it gave out tremendous amounts of energy. I think that's what keeps the boy going, maybe he's letting the girl tap into his aura so she can live as well."  
  
Nicholas nodded in consideration, "Probably, but how could we overlook a boy and a staff?"  
  
The soldier shrugged, "He didn't have it when he came in, it's almost as if he made it appear out of thin air." (Whoadie: ^_^;;;; ahem…)  
  
"Send out a search party! Don't let the two live, kill them both. They're obviously a threat to us, one even carries a weapon. Now go!"  
  
"Right away, sir." the soldier bowed then retreated back to camp.  
  
He looked at the book that was lying silently on it's back, it seemed to mock him by just laying there. "Grrr, I need those cards!" He glared at the book then blinked. //An aura!// He walked closer to it, yes it was an aura indeed. //PINK!!! Ying-fa must be near by!// A malicious grin started to spread on his lips. //She could prove to be useful in more ways than one.//  
  
He scanned the area as if trying to pluck her out from the tragic scenery. "I'm waiting here, Ying-fa!"  
  
"You don't have to wait anymore…"  
  
He whirled around only to get the point of a sword pressed against his neck. //Touché…//  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
A/N: ^_^;;; Sorry about it being short and all but I'm really finding it difficult to find time to write these chappies. I shall try though. 


	7. Hello Ranran

Whoadie: *shifty eyes*   
  
Ran-ran: ^_^ she isn't supposed to be online due to a grounding for unknown reasons...  
  
Whoadie: SHHHH! I DID NOTHING!  
  
Roiben: *wakes up in the bathroom* O_O WHERE'S OUR HOSTAGE?!  
  
Whoadie: *made a bomb out of the materials given* ^_^   
  
Nicholas: *lying on the ground* X.X  
  
Door: *not there anymore*  
  
Syaraon: ^_^ I have taught you well  
  
Whoadie: *bows*  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"..." speaking   
  
//..// thinking  
  
[...] Elven language translated  
  
Suffering  
  
Chapter 7  
  
"Please, can we take a break now, Eriol?" The dark haired girl fell to all fours panting. She had been running for a few miles now in a weak condition and she was just on the brink of passing out.  
  
The boy looked around the misty forest, eyes darting in every direction for the slightest noise. "My apologies sweet Tomoyo." He continued to gaze around on total alert, he had the right to be paranoid.  
  
She wrinkled her noise at her new nickname. "Don't call me that..."  
  
He turned his face towards her, fixing an innocent look. He adjusted his spectacles in a teasing manner. "Call you what, my sweet?"  
  
She scowled at him, "THAT!"  
  
He blinked innocently, "I didn't call you 'My sweet' before, I called you 'Sweet Tomoyo'" he winked at her as she curled her hands into tight fists.  
  
She couldn't help but let the corners of her lips turn upwards slightly. //Does he always have to be a flirt? I'm going to KILL Sakura for ever introducing us, he's been like my stalker ever since.// She shuddered at memories of having Eriol as her shadow ever since her childhood years.  
  
"Thinking of me, my dear?" his voice was pleasant with a tinge of smugness to it. He sat down, leaning his back against the trunk of a tree and the staff against his shoulder. One leg was propped up for his arm to rest, the other was stretched out comfortably. He had that lazy appearance but the sharpness of his eyes gave him away of being anything BUT lazy.  
  
"HMPH! You wish..." she crawled over to a tree that was nearest to her and away from Eriol. She leaned back against the tree, resting her now relaxed hands on top of her stomach. She turned her now red face away from Eriol, finding the moss on the tree most interesting.  
  
He chuckled at her childish behavior, "Hn, alot of help that has gotten me. So I'll try a different approach than wishing..." He gripped his sun staff ((Whoadie: *glares at the chucklers* SHHH!)) in one hand, pushing himself with the other hand away from the tree trunk.  
  
He used his skills in being silent and ability to approach an unsuspected victim without being noticed. He crept towards Tomoyo, who was still fuming with her head turned.  
  
Tomoyo blinked a few times going over what he had said. "What do you mean by-AHHHHHHHH!" she had turned her head and came face to face with Eriol. The thing that startled her the most was that his face was inches from hers.  
  
Her eyes widened as he inched closer. "You know EXACTLY what I meant..." his voice was low, with a predator tinge to it. He now had his prey where he wanted it. His eyes locked with hers, smiling at her uneasiness.  
  
"Eriol..I'm warning you...I'm the Demolition expert for our advanced team, don't push me..."((Whoadie: If you remember when Tori was in the Advanced team when Sakura was younger, you'll know they are the right age to be in it now.)) she tried to move back but ended up just pushing herself into the back of the tree. //Damn you! I'm trapped.//  
  
Eriol put his arms on both sides of Tomoyo's head so that she couldn't run. His head moved closer so that she could feel his breath on her lips. "If you were going to do anything as drastic as that, I wouldn't be as close to you as I am now."  
  
Tomoyo looked down, her cheeks turning a light pink color. //He's right..What's wrong with me!!//   
  
He reached down, cupping her chin with his thumb and forefinger, "Don't hide your beautiful eyes from me, I've seen enough of the back of your head." He stroked her lips with his thumb lovingly.  
  
Her eyes misted over when she felt his lips brush against hers and surprised herself when she responded to his light kiss.   
  
Her arms encircled his neck, deepening the kiss further. She could feel his arms wrapping around her waist as she pulled him closer.  
  
"Well isn't this a precious moment..."  
  
Tomoyo released her grip on Eriol's hair and pulled back out of shock. Eriol turned his head so that he could look over his shoulder. Annoyance and anger crossed his eyes. //Damn, of course something like this has to happen...//  
  
His hand slowly reached for the staff that laid forgotten on the ground next to Tomoyo.   
  
The man noticed this and unsheathed his sword. "I wouldn't do that." He raised his free arm in a signal for his men to lower their weapons.  
  
Eriol looked up to see them surrounded by archers with their arrows pointed at them. He growled at himself for not being able to hear them approaching.   
  
"Get up, elf. Step away from the pretty lass. Men! Secure her in the cage and bind him with ropes." Roiben sheathed his sword, watching all his orders being carried out with empty eyes. The spell had won, he was now nothing more than a mindless puppet.  
  
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Eriol's eyes glowed fiercely as the men grabbed Tomoyo roughly. She whimpered as they held her a little too tightly. ((Whoadie: Remember! She's weak from the forest burning, so she can't really do much. Walking and running was a struggle, remember? ^_^))  
  
He struggled against the men's hold on him, he was furious. He looked over at the man carrying his staff to the back of a wagon. "Naar cam." [Spell: Burning Hands]  
  
The man who held his staff yowled with pain as his hands started to steam. They were glowing a bright red as the man ran around screaming. Tomoyo's head was slumped over, she could barely walk to the cage the men were dragging her too. Without Eriol near, she couldn't feed off of his aura to stay alive.   
  
She muttered under her gasping breaths, "Ram en' tessa.." [Spell: Paralyze Field] The men around them stopped moving, but the man who had his hands burned was still screaming despite his immobilness.   
  
Tomoyo slumped forwards falling to her knees. The two men holding her fell with her since they couldn't keep themselves up. She was starting to see black spots, she blinked furiously trying to clear her vision but the spots only swelled.   
  
Eriol scrambled out of the men's grip on him, rushing towards Tomoyo. He picked her up with ease, he walked over to where the man dropped his staff and gave the man a satisfied smirk. "You'll never be able to use those hands again once the spell wears off..." He picked up his staff, hoping it would feed Tomoyo's aura enough to keep her awake.  
  
"Stay with me, Melamin." [Positive Endearment: My love] A few tears rolled down his cheeks as he nuzzled Tomoyos hair with his nose. "Don't die on me...Amin mela lle..." [Common Phrase: I love you] He whispered the last part into her ear, hoping it would encourage her to live.  
  
~~~~Sakura~~~~  
  
"Hn. Your getting slow..." Her eyes twinkled with laughter. "Lower your sword, Li." She furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed Li hadn't budged, he was glaring at Nicholas with the utmost hatred. "Lower your weapon!"  
  
"Now why would I do that? After all the pain he's caused, it would be easy to end it here and now." He pressed his blade into Nicholas's neck, causing it to cut in. A drop of blood rolled down from the cut and down the blade.  
  
She didn't say anything, she did want Nicholas dead but not like this. She wanted to face him in head to head combat, testing both magic and fighting skills to see if she really would have made it to Sereg'wethrin. [Profession: Assassin]   
  
"N'ndengina ho." She didn't realize she had switched languages. [Command: Don't kill him] She was about to repeat herself when Li spoke.  
  
"Mankoi?" His voice was low and stable. His eyes narrowed at Nicholas, not caring that he too had switched tongues. [Question: Why?]  
  
Her eyes widened, she inched closer to Li still staring in amazement. He didn't look down at her. "Mani ume lle quena?" Her eyes searching his for answers. [Question: What did you say?] //How....//  
  
He didn't answer, he was too busy glaring holes into Nicholas. "Lle lava?" [Question: Do you Yield?]   
  
Nicholas raised an eyebrow, he was just as shocked as Sakura. "Lle quena i'lambe tel' Eldalie?" [Question: Do you speak elven?] His hands were busy behind this back.  
  
Li rolled his eyes, "Well no shit..." He lunged forward, waiting for the sickening thud of Nicholas's head falling to the ground. "Leme ed' templa.." He blinked as the blade missed Nicholas by a few inches.   
  
Nicholas smirked as his body disappeared into blue mist. His voice still echoed around them, "I'll be back for you, Ying-fa."  
  
She growled, he had gotten away. She looked over to the still Li, he was just as furious. She drew her own sword, blinded by her own anger at losing Nicholas. "YOU!!!" She dove at Li with her sword raised.   
  
Li barely had time to block, "Look, I didn't think he was capable of teleporting. After studying you, I figured since you didn't then he couldn't either."  
  
She pulled away, swinging across his stomach. "YOU FOOL!!! Teleporting is left as a last resort! If all else fails, you retreat! THE DISTANCE WE RAN WASN'T WORTH TELEPORTING!" When he moved from her swing, she planted the sword into the ground using it to swing her body in to deliver a strong roundhouse kick.   
  
Li stumbled back but had his sword ready when Sakura brought hers down at him. He pushed up, using his strength as an advantage. "Get a hold of yourself, Ying-fa!"  
  
She pressed down, using her body weight this time. "GET A HOLD OF MYSELF? THE WORLD IS IN DANGER BECAUSE YOU LET OUR ENEMY GET AWAY!"  
  
He pushed up, making her slide backwards. "What your doing is meaningless!"  
  
"No, getting rid of you would be the first right thing to do in order to save my race!" She flew backwards when Li launched her with his sword.   
  
"Oh, so now your only saving YOUR race? What do you have against the Human race, anyways? Besides LIVING!" He pounced on her, removing her sword. To his surprise he saw a tear roll down the side of her face.   
  
"It's all their fault! If it weren't for them and their stupid disagreements with the elven race, Ran-ran would have never been sent away! ITS ALL THEIR FAULT, ALONG WITH NICHOLAS'!" She pounded the ground at her side as more held back tears fell.  
  
"Wait...what did you say?"  
  
"I said that it was all-"  
  
"No...did you say...Ran-ran? Did you get this from...a name?" His eyes were wide with realization. His face pale.  
  
Sakura nodded slowly, still stressing over past and present problems. "My old friend, his name was Syaoran. I was little and called him Ran-ran so what..."  
  
"I..." He ran a hand through his auburn locks. "You don't recognize me...Sakura?"  
  
She looked at him, hearing her name. "How did you..."  
  
He shook her by the arms, "Don't you remember?" He couldn't believe it, here was his childhood friend laying beneath him. She had changed so much, he couldn't make the connection. He flinched inside. //It was because of me...//  
  
She blinked, she almost felt like she was 7 again. Innocence and hope appeared in her emerald eyes as she smoothed out his locks of hair. "Ran-ran?"  
  
He nodded, smiling. "So you do remember me..."  
  
She was speechless, she felt herself pulling him into a tight hug. "Of course, I could never forget you!" All these years of training in hopes of finding him again, then news came of his village burning to the ground. All her hope died that day. "I tried so hard to become what stronger so that I could protect myself, in a way to prove that I didn't need you. But I did..."  
  
He hugged her back, burying his face into her hair. "I'll always protect you, Sakura. I did back then, and I will now. You think you may not need it, but there are more ways than one to protect someone." He smiled.  
  
She grinned, the ice and barrier over her heart was slowly collapsing. She felt so...alive. She pulled away for a second, "Why did you ask earlier if I knew an Eriol?"  
  
His face grimmed, "He was my old rival and...the partner of my father's death. Yea I know, I only saw that one girl but I heard her whisper his name. So once I find him, I'll find my father's killer."  
  
She sighed sadly, "Ra-Syaoran...I have a confession to make..." she looked away from him, right when she got her best friend back. She would only lose him again.  
  
"I..."  
  
Another voice was heard, "Did someone say my name?" He adjusted his spectacles.  
  
Sakura looked over at him, "Eriol..."  
  
Syaoran looked up, glaring at him. He got to his feet with his sword in hand. Eriol moved the staggering Tomoyo behind him. "So your Eriol..."  
  
Eriol raised an eyebrow, "Wow, that's stalkerish. You know my name and already have a grudge against me. May I have yours, my foe to be?"  
  
"Syaoran..."  
  
Eriol gasped, looking over at Sakura. "He's the one you were talking about? Ran-ran, was it?" He looked back, only to come face to face with Syaoran's blade. "Gah twice in one day...is everyone an elven hater?"  
  
"You helped kill someone along time ago, who was your partner in this murder?"  
  
Eriol furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out what he was talking about. "I'm afraid you'll have to be specific, I've had many missions."  
  
"About 7 years ago..."  
  
"Ah yes that one...my first mission." His eyes grew glossy as if remembering an lovely forgotten dream.   
  
He gritted his teeth, holding the blade up at him. "Who was your partner?"  
  
Eriol blinked, "You have no partner when man hunting, assassins work alone, der." He loved messing with this guys temper buttons.  
  
"Grr, I know you helped her! I heard her say your name!"  
  
He raised an eyebrow, scratching the back of his head. "Well I have no idea on what your talking about..."  
  
Sakura sighed in relief, maybe she didn't have to tell him.  
  
"Although..."  
  
Maybe not.  
  
"Hmm the only person I talked to was Sakura...she was pointing out that I had left quite a big mess and needed to clean up before someone caught onto our midnight raids." he smirked at Sakura, giving her a thumbs up for her good deed back then. Little did he know that he just broke Syaoran's heart.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whoadie: *yawns* Well that wasn't surprising at all!  
  
Syaoran: RAN-RAN?!  
  
Whoadie: I eh got it from from the last part of your name...^_^;; SyaoRAN. *laughs*  
  
Everyone: -_-;;;  
  
Whoadie: HEY! I used to call EVERYONE by the last 3 letters of their last name!  
  
Roiben: what if their name was like...gah nevermind...  
  
Whoadie: See? I WIN!  
  
Roiben: I'm going to call you...*reads last 3 letters* DIE!  
  
Whoadie: well that's not very nice...  
  
Nicholas: DIE! I LIKE THAT! *laughs evilly* 


	8. Who are you?

Whoadie: To the reviewer's statement. Well I know I don't always have to end it in a cliffhanger but it gives you time to think of what will happen next. Plus, it's a sortof brief pause for me to get my barings and allows me to gather ideas so I can make another action filled chapter for you! ^_^ If I just ended it, well it wouldn't make you as anxious for the next chappie, now would it?  
  
Ran-ran: *nods* Well put  
  
Roiben: You ready?  
  
Sakura: YOUR ON!  
  
Roiben: *stares*  
  
Sakura: *stares back*  
  
Syaoran: Hey I got the...*watches* WHAT'S GOING ON!?!? *storms away jealous*  
  
Roiben: *blinks*  
  
Sakura: YOU BLINKED! ^_^ I WIN! *victory dance*  
  
Whoadie: O_O NUUUU! WAIT SYAORAN! *chases*  
  
Nicholas: ^_^ Another happy ending!   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"..." talking  
  
//..//thinking  
  
[...] Elven translation  
  
Suffering  
  
Chapter 8  
  
Sakura paled when Eriol said her name. Her eyes started to gloss over as she bit her lip. "Syaoran..." she whispered quietly.  
  
Syaoran turned his head away from everyone, so many emotions were flaring in him. His frame shook not knowing whether to break down sobbing or to unleash his anger, he clenched and unclenched his hands as he stood there.  
  
Eriol could only blink and look from Sakura to Syaoran then back to Sakura. "Um...Did I miss something?"  
  
Tomoyo smacked him in the back from behind. "Good job in severing whatever was left between the two! Sakura was just now coming back to how we USED to know her and we just found our lost childhood friend Ran-ran, but that's gone now." She sighed, good things never did last.  
  
Eriol raised an eyebrow at her, "Again, what? What'd I say?" He raised his arms in a shrug. He shook his head, walking away from the group. He stuck his hands inside his leather pants as he kicked a rock. He mumbled to himself about how he always gets the blame.   
  
"Stupid no good..." he blinked when he noticed a book lying a few feet from his outstretched foot. He bent down, narrowing his eyes at it. //No way..it can't be. This was a myth!// His hand glided over the smooth surface of the book.   
  
The book shuddered under his touch and seemed to inch away. "Hmmm, so maybe it is true." He picked up the book and slipped it into his black leather tank top which was open in the middle. (( Whoadie: *Cat calls*))  
  
"Sakura..." breathing was becoming difficult. Tomoyo clutched at her heart but only managed to get a fistful of her cloak. "Is there anything you can do to save us?" When she said "us" she wasn't referring to just them but the whole entire world.  
  
Sakura turned her head towards Tomoyo, her thoughts had been on Syaoran. The rest of the world could go to hell for all she cared, aslong as Syaoran forgave and forgot what Eriol had said. She wanted to turn back time so badly, but it was considered a cowards way out if she did use the incantation. "At the moment? No..."  
  
Tomoyo's heart sunk, Sakura hardly ever lied but she had been hoping her answer was not the truth. "Lie to me, Sakura. Tell me everything will be alright..."   
  
Sakura shook her head, "You know I can't do that, it's not in me to lie to you."   
  
"Will I....Do I even....Sakura...Am I going to die?"   
  
Sakura's jaw tightened, the question was coming and she knew it. "Tomoyo..."  
  
Tomoyo shook her head, black looks flew. "No! I don't want that pity/sincerity crap! Just tell me straight out if I am going to join the others!"  
  
"The others?"  
  
Tomoyo's head slumped forward, her bangs left her eyes in shadows. "I'm sorry, Sakura. The burning of the forest...Ancient magic fading...Separation...it was too much for them. They're gone...all of them...except us."  
  
Her parents were dead. Her teacher was dead. Everyone was dead. They were what's left. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. Suddenly, the pressure of her responsibility to the world increased. "Tomoyo...your not going to die."  
  
She looked up with probing eyes, she searched through the deep swirling emerald of Sakura's eyes trying to find anything that would give away the lie she had just been told. She found nothing. "How can you be so sure?"  
  
"Well how are you living, what kept you alive when the others fell into infinite darkness?"  
  
"Oh..well..." she blushed. Her eyes turned towards Eriol, who was staring at the sky. His eyes moved to hers when he felt her looking at him. She quickly averted her gaze to the grass underneathe her hand.  
  
Sakura looked at the exchanging of awkward and uneasy looks from the two. "I see..." She stole a glance at the silent Syaoran, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. She quickly got to her feet. "Where did Ran- I mean, Syaoran go?!"  
  
Tomoyo looked at her oddly, "I didn't see him go anywhere..."  
  
"I did, he left awhile ago while you two were so engrossed in conversation about me." Eriol's smirk only widened from the heated glares he recieved.   
  
"Don't flatter yourself, Honoo-chan."   
  
Eriol flinched from his codename. It was also a running joke between the 4... ahem, 3 of them.  
  
"Hey! Back off, Sakura!"  
  
She laughed at his flushed face, "Hey you picked the name, not me."  
  
"No...YOU GUYS picked the name, I had no choice but to go with it!"  
  
Tomoyo smiled sweetly, "But it suited you so perfectly. Remember that time when we were 12 and you accidently caught Master Yue's hair on fire when you missed your target with that advanced spell...what was it again?"  
  
"Koron en' naur!" [Spell: Fireball] He paled feeling the familiar heat gathering in his hand. "YOU TRICKED ME!"  
  
Tomoyo put a look of shock on her face while pointing to herself, "I did nothing! Your the one who said it!"  
  
He looked around frantically to shoot his old nemesis. He looked at the already burned village, "Perfect! Can't get anymore blacker!" He shot the fireball at the ruined village. The fireball missed and crashed into the tree just on the other side of the village. The tree instantly blazed up into a wild fire.  
  
"Yala onna en' alu!" [Spell: Summon Water Elemental] A water spirit appeared infront of the fire. It took a child form, the gender was unknown from the distance. The spirit raised it's arms, shooting water out of it's hands and onto the flaming tree. The tree was instantly put out. The child giggled before disappearing.  
  
Sakura turned her head at Eriol, "Still need me to look after you, Honoo-chan? This is deja-vu all over again, only this time you lit the tree on fire."  
  
Tomoyo stifled a laugh, "She's right! If Sakura didn't put out that fire before all of Master Yue's hair was gone, you'd be dead. She even saved your butt now, you would have lit the entire forest on fire!"  
  
Eriol grumbled at them both but couldn't hide the spreading of pink on his cheeks. "So I could never fire a fireball properly, big deal! I'm more skilled in the...darker arts and when it comes to battle plans, I'm the genius!"  
  
Both girls raised an eyebrow at each other then bursted out aughing. Eriol glared at them both before climbing up into a tree. He crossed his arms over his chest, mumbling at how evil women could truly be.  
  
Tomoyo gasped from being short of breath, "Sakura...I could really use ideas now...Eriol's aura won't be enough to sustain me.."  
  
Sakura crawled over to her, "I've figured it out..."  
  
Eriol rolled his eyes, "As always..." yet the news him relieved at the same time.  
  
Sakura stuck her tongue out at Eriol then reached under her collar. She pulled out the necklace her mother had given her. "I have a feeling this will help me..." She held out the necklace, words flooded in her mind. She didn't realize that the words were speaking through her.  
  
"Key of the Star  
  
With powers burning bright  
  
Reveal the staff  
  
And shine your light  
  
Release!"  
  
The key started to change slowly, it began to grow larger. It separated itself from the string it was attached to. Sakura's eyes went blank as the staff formed. It landed in her outstretched hand softly, her fingers curled around it tightly.  
  
The book in Eriol's vest started to shake from the energy radiating off of the staff. He looked down with shock, "What the hell?" The book shot out of his open vest. "No!" the book flew right out of his desperate grasp for it.  
  
The book floated towards Sakura, landing in her other empty hand. Her eyes were blank, staring ahead into space. Her pink aura pulled from her body, becoming it's own shining brilliance. It wrapped around the two items in her hands, binding and renewing old past links.   
  
Tomoyo gaped at the swirling of pink aura, she had to squint her eyes from the omnious light. "Sa...kura?"  
  
The aura pressed in, becoming one with Sakura and her two items. A bright flash erupted from the aura once it became one with Sakura again. The book flew out of pink explosion, landing infront of Tomoyo. "What's..this?" She reached out to touch it but drew her hand back when the book jumped into the air. The cover unlocked and revealed the locked away secrets that was hidden in the text.  
  
The pink energy that emitted from Sakura rose out of the book. It was a swirling tornado that only increased in size as it came out.   
  
Tomoyo backed up into the tree she was resting against, afraid that she would be sucked into this pink vortex. She heard a roar and looked down at where the pages would have been. The lion shaped head that was formed by the pink light, started to rise out of the book. It threw its head back and roared again, making the earth beneath her shake.  
  
She held her hand out at the lion head that was made of nothing but pink light. "Pelekta yassen runya!" [Spell: Flamestrike] Fire spiraled out of her hand, expanding itself around the lion head.   
  
An ear piercing scream could be heard but it wasn't from the lion head, it was from a girl. Realization dawned on her, making her pale. "Sakura."  
  
The pink aura faded, leaving a scrunched up Sakura. She had 3rd degree burns all over her body, which were still smoking. Her hair was burning up, but was quickly put out by Eriol.   
  
Tomoyo fell back from exhaustion, falling into a deep sleep. Eriol could only watch in horror the two most important people in his life slip away from him. "Damnit Sakura..." He didn't blame her for what happened, he just wished she would have been more careful when dealing with ancient magic.   
  
He walked over to the open book, but when he reached down to pick it up, it snapped shut. That's when he heard coughing and hacking. He whirled around with his staff pointed out at the intruder. "Who's there!"  
  
More coughing and hacking, "That girl is CRAZY...I mean I try to give a cool entrance and what'd she do? She freaking fires at me...there's no pleasing anyone these days...HEY! WATCH WHERE YOUR POINTING THAT THING!"   
  
Eriol blinked at the flying yellow er...animal of sorts infront of him. "Who are...what are...where'd you..."  
  
It blinked back at Eriol then grinned, it flew around the staff and hovered infront of Eriol's face. "Kero beros you shall say!"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Whoadie: *pokes door* Ran-ran?  
  
Ran-ran: Yesh?  
  
Whoadie: Not you..  
  
Ran-ran: but you said...  
  
Whoadie: *narrows eyes*  
  
Ran-ran: O_O meep...*walks away*  
  
Syaoran: Go away.  
  
Whoadie: YOU HAVE TO COME OUT!!  
  
Syaoran: DO NOT! 


End file.
